Guess Who's Back? (Title not permanent, will change)
by anmacus
Summary: Twelve years after the end of the manga, Kenshin and Kaoru receive a letter from a certain rooster head. He'll be back in Tokyo within the next month. Now dealing with three children of their own, what will happen to change the couples lives when Sano brings back a child of his own?


_Hey there Jou-chan, Kenshin, Yahiko. _

_ It's been a while since my last letter, yeah? Hopefully you two got your acts together by now. I'd sure hate ta have to knock some sense into you guys the next time I see ya. And you too brat, if you ain't got hitched to Tsubame yet. Anyway, I've been okay. Actually, I'm writing because I'm planning on making a visit to Tokyo, soon. So I hope that now you've got some kids of yours hangin' around there because I'm bringing someone along that'll need a good friend or two. _

_ See you soon, _

_Sano. _

_P.S. –Plan a party with lots of good food. That means don't you dare let Jou-chan do the cooking, Kenshin. I should get there on the third week of summer._

Kaoru Himura clenched a fist, crumpling up the letter she held, "That _stupid_ Rooster-head!" She turned to her husband who stood next to her. "I can't believe that after all this time with no word from him he's still got the audacity to insult me!"

"Koishi," the redhead held his palms out toward his wife in a placating gesture. "Don't get so riled up. He's just being Sano, that he is. Besides, your cooking skills have improved greatly since then and he's been gone so he doesn't know that."

Kaoru dropped the letter and stomped on it with a harrumph, nodding in agreement. "They have, haven't they?"

Kenshin placed his hand on her shoulder. "Of course. But there's something in his letter that you've overlooked."

"Huh?" Kaoru's brow rose as she looked at him questioningly.

"He said he's bringing someone with him." Kenshin answered. "Who do you think that could be?"

She thought for a minute before bending down to pick up the letter. As she skimmed it over once more, her eyes widened. "Kenshin? Do you think that Sano…?"

"Possibly," he answered, understanding the unspoken question. "After all, he was a frequent visitor of the tea-houses while he stayed here in Tokyo. I don't see why he wouldn't seek the umm… _comfort_, of a woman from any other country as well."

Kaoru's cheeks grew pink. "But… what of the mother?"

Kenshin placed his hand on her cheek, "Not all women are lucky enough to have healthy pregnancies, love."

Kaoru leaned in to the touch, feeling sad for the woman who hadn't survived child-birth but grateful that she had made it through her own pregnancies. "Oh, Kenshin. I wish he'd had someone to be there for him. It had to have been hard for Sano to raise a child on his own."

"I know," Kenshin agreed, "but, from his letter, we can assume he made it alright; if, that is, our assumptions are correct and he is bringing his own child along. Maybe we've misinterpreted his letter and Sano is just bringing a young friend."

"Who's Sano?"

The couple turned their heads and met the questioning gaze of their teenage son. His long hair, just a shade of darker red than Kenshin's, was tied up in the traditional top-knot of a kendo student. From the bokken strapped to his back, it was obvious he'd come from the dojo.

Kenshin had to release the pent up breath that caught in his throat at the sight of him. No matter how hard he tried, he could never block out the dark memories of the past brought on by seeing an almost exact replica of his younger self.

"Ano, Kenji, have you completed your training already?" Kaoru asked their son. It was not yet mid-day, and the boy had only started two hours earlier.

"Yes, Kaa-san. The steps of the kata I've been practicing aren't difficult."

"Mou," Kaoru pursed her lips, noticing the way her son's shoulders had squared with pride. "A proper swordsman would not boast of his skills so early on, Kenji."

"Your mother's right," Kenshin put in, "Someone will take you down a peg or two one day, if you're not careful."

"Gomen-nasaii." Kenji apologized, with some apparent difficulty, and bowed to his parents. "I didn't mean to gloat."

"It's all well, son." Kenshin placed a hand on the boy's shoulder. "You just need to remember that there is a point when good confidence becomes haughty arrogance, that there is."

"Aa," Kenji nodded, and after a moment of silence: "Will you tell me who Sano is? Did he write the letter you're holding?" He gestured to the wrinkled paper in his mother's hands.

"Go and get the twins," Kenshin answered, "We will inform the three of you together."

Kenji was off after another bow to his parents, walking quickly towards where his younger siblings played catch in the yard near the gate.


End file.
